DETROIT – The putts finally started dropping for Patrick Reed at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Reed breezed past an ultra-low cut line with a pair of 68s to start the week at Detroit Golf Club, but that still left the former Masters champ well off the pace. While the birdies were falling, he nearly had to get within arm’s reach of the hole to convert opportunities on the greens, ranking near the bottom of the field in strokes gained: putting.

Reed’s putting woes were so bad that he made an early-week detour to a local Club Champion store to double check that the specs on his putter were still correct.

The results finally changed Saturday for Reed, who tallied nine birdies en route to a 7-under 65 that moved him into fourth place at 15 under heading into the final round.

“It was about time, honestly. I feel like I’ve been hitting the ball really well,” Reed said. “Putts were burning edges left and right. I’d be reading break that wasn’t there. Today, to see the ball go in on the first hole just kind of settled me down. I was able to get the confidence going on to really feel like I was seeing the lines well.”

Reed made an 8-footer for birdie on the opening hole, then added four more birdies in a five-hole stretch on the front nine. It put him in position for his first top-10 finish since the WGC-HSBC Champions in October, although he still faces an eight-shot deficit to overnight leader Nate Lashley.

But despite the steep challenge he’ll savor the opportunity as he looks to build some momentum in the midst of a run of four straight starts that will conclude next week at the 3M Open.

“When you’re just not getting those numbers, it’s frustrating. You’re at home, you’re like, ‘I feel like I’m doing everything I’m supposed to be doing, what’s going on?’” Reed said. “So you need rounds like this to validate and to show yourself that you are on the right path, that you’re doing the right things, and it actually is closer than some of the scores show.”